Act 7:8, Rom 4:11 | JFB | e4.org | 8. the covenant of circumcision —that is, the covenant of which circumcision was the token. and so —that is, according to the terms of this covenant, on which Paul reasons ( ). the twelve patriarchs —so called as the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.

‏ Acts 7:8

8. the covenant of circumcision—that is, the covenant of which circumcision was the token.

and so—that is, according to the terms of this covenant, on which Paul reasons (Ga 3:1-26).

the twelve patriarchs—so called as the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.

‏ Romans 4:11

9-12. Cometh this blessedness then, &c.—that is, "Say not, All this is spoken of the circumcised, and is therefore no evidence of God's general way of justifying men; for Abraham's justification took place long before he was circumcised, and so could have no dependence upon that rite: nay, 'the sign of circumcision' was given to Abraham as 'a seal' (or token) of the (justifying) righteousness which he had before he was circumcised; in order that he might stand forth to every age as the parent believer—the model man of justification by faith—after whose type, as the first public example of it, all were to be moulded, whether Jew or Gentile, who should thereafter believe to life everlasting."